Nigel Slater's fish suppers

If we choose carefully there is no reason why we shouldn't still have a fish supper. Be it scallops, langoustines or sardines, there are few things more delicious than simply cooked seafood:

Red mullet with roast tomatoes, olives and basil

Mr Hatt, my fishmonger, had fantastic Scottish red mullet the other day, though you are more likely to find the Devon and Cornish ones. One of the 'gamiest' of fish, they respond well to roasting with sweet-sharp tomatoes.

Set the oven at 200°C/gas 6. Rinse the red mullet and check for any stray scales. Cut the tomatoes in half and put them in a baking dish or roasting tin. Drizzle over a very little olive oil, then bake them for 20 minutes or so, until they are soft and starting to colour. Tear the basil leaves into large pieces and put them in a mixing bowl. Add the olives, olive oil and vinegar together with a grinding of salt and black pepper.

Remove the dish from the oven and place the red mullet on top of the tomatoes. Pour the dressing over the fish and return the dish to the oven for about 18-20 minutes until the fish is tender enough to be pulled easily from the bone. Serve with the tarama toast (below).

For the tarama toast: Spread two rounds of freshly made brown toast with smoked cod's roe and cut into triangles. Serve with the red mullet. You will need about 70g smoked cod's roe for two rounds of toast.

Langoustines with salt and olive oil

North Sea langoustines are within safe numbers, and just as juicy as the Mediterranean ones if you cook them briefly enough. I see no point in getting fancy with them - just olive oil (or butter if you prefer), lemon and sea salt is fine.

Pull the leaves from the parsley and reserve them, then put the stalks into a deep pan of water and bring to the boil. Add the peppercorns and bay leaves. Roughly chop the parsley leaves.

Once the water is boiling, salt it generously then pop in the langoustines. Let them boil away merrily for about 4 minutes then drain them. Put the cooked langoustines onto plates then let each person drizzle them with olive oil and scatter them with parsley and sea salt, squeezing over lemon juice as they go.

Grilled sardines and pomegranate couscous

I am always happy to tuck into a plate of grilled sardines, being in abundance as they are as well as on the list of things we should eat more of. It hasn't always been the case, but I have now finally decided that dealing with the pesky little bones is just part of the deal. No bones, no sardines.

SERVES 4

Sardines, cleaned - about 3 or 4 per person, depending on their size
Couscous - 150g
Pomegranate - a large one
Pine kernels - 50g
Golden sultanas - 100g
Mint - a small bunch
Olive oil, lemon juice to season
Lemons to serve

Put the couscous into a bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover it. Leave for 10 minutes, then run a fork through to separate the grains.

Cut the pomegranate in half and remove the seeds (I do this by removing the thick peel with a sharp knife, then snapping off pieces of flesh and breaking it into seeds, discarding the pith as I go). Toast the pine kernels in a small non-stick pan. Watch them closely because they burn easily. When they are golden, tip them onto a piece of kitchen paper, then stir them into the couscous together with the pomegranate seeds, sultanas and a generous helping of mint leaves, chopped if they are on the large side. Check the seasoning, it will need black pepper and a (mere) dash of olive oil and lemon juice.

Season the sardines with a little salt then cook them under a hot grill until their skins are blistered deep gold and black and their flesh pulls away easily from the (very fine) bones.

Set the oven at 200°C/gas 6. Put the smoked haddock in a shallow baking dish and pour in enough milk, or milk and water to just cover. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the fish is perfectly tender and will peel away easily from the skin.

Peel the potatoes, cut them in half and boil in lightly salted water until they are tender enough to mash. Drain them, then mash roughly with a fork or potato masher - I prefer them loosely mashed rather than whipped to a smooth purée.

Soften the saffron stamens in a little of the milk from the fish. Peel the fish from its skin and break the flesh up with a fork. Again, I think a little texture is required here, so don't flake the fish too finely. Mix it with the soaked saffron, the potato, a seasoning of salt and black pepper and enough of the chopped parsley leaves to give two large tablespoons. You should have enough mixture for nine croquettes.

Remove large, heaped tablespoons of the fish mixture and shape roughly into ovals or rounds. You can do this with lightly floured hands or with two tablespoons. Set the little croquettes aside for half an hour or so in the fridge, to give them a chance to settle.

To cook them, heat a shallow level of oil in a non-stick frying pan - about two tablespoons. When it is quite hot, slide in the croquettes, they should sizzle immediately. Cook for three to four minutes on each side, turning them tenderly as each side colours. They are fragile, so don't play with them. Remove with a spatula and drain briefly on kitchen paper before serving.

Open the scallops and rinse away any grit. Cut the tendon that holds the flesh to the shell, but leave the flesh in place. Place the scallop in its shell on a baking sheet.

Make the butter: make sure the butter is at cool room temperature. Chop the parsley leaves and add them to the butter, together with the lemon juice and the peeled and finely crushed garlic. Mix in a very little crushed sea salt and pepper.

Divide the butter between the scallop shells and sprinkle the top of each with grated Parmesan. Grill for a couple of minutes until the scallop is sizzling. Take great care not to overcook. OFM